Campaign Resources

Dear NHS supporters,

A few weeks ago, the government re-wrote the NHS privatisation regulations that they were trying to sneak through parliament, because many of us raised such an outcry. However, further expert opinion (see below) has made clear that the revised regulations are just as bad, although Conservative ministers have changed some of the wording in order to get Lib Dem coalition partners to support them.

Following our campaigning, there will now be a (highly unusual) vote in the House of Lords on 24th of April, in which Peers could vote to overturn these regulations altogether. The government should go back to the drawing board until they can come up with something in line with what Ministers promised.

WHAT CAN WE DO NOW?

1. Print out the attached leaflet and distribute it as widely as you can (feel free to amend / add your groups logo)

2. Use the links below to contact Peers to ask them to vote against the NHS Privatisation Regulations on 24th April.

3. Ask others to do the same (you could also use the attached template letter to your local paper)

WHY IS THIS SO IMPORTANT?

The regulations (made under Section 75 of the Health & Social Care Act) still requireallNHS services to be put out to competition unless the commissioners can prove there is onlyoneprovider capable of delivering them. Far from putting competition ‘back in its box’ as some have suggested, these regulations roll out the red carpet to it and will lead to a massive, expensive and damaging extension of privatisation in the NHS.Please give some time to doing this if you want the NHS to stay the kind of institution we love, rather than a profit-seeking business where health is a commodity which is bought and sold.

CONTACTING PEERS

There are several template letters you can use to contact members of the House of Lords (particularly Lib Dem and Crossbench peers, and Bishops) to ask them to reject these undemocratic changes:

Send letters rather than emails if possible, since some peers will not use emails. The address is Houses of Parliament, Westminister SW1A 0AA. Most powerful of all, if you have time, could be a handwritten letter (or handwritten covering note).

Best of all, send letters to their home address if you can find it – this will help Peers think about the issues in advance, as they are on holiday until two days before the debate.

What about MPs?

The Regulations can in theory be defeated in either House. It is less likely in the Commons, but it is still worth asking your MP to sign Early Day Motion 1188 www.parliament.uk/edm/2012-13/1188. If your MP has refused to sign, and you are concerned about their arguments, do have a look at the David Lock QC links, below.

WANT MORE INFORMATION?

www.cartoonkate.co.uk/nhs-plc/ this cartoon brilliantly explains what our NHS could look like, especially if we don’t overturn these regulations. I have a high resolution file which people can use they want (I haven’t attached as it is quite a large file unless people want it, but we have permission from the artist to use it for campaigning).